Carmine Marceno

When the Florida Commission on Ethics issued its press release on the status of its cases Wednesday, conspicuously missing was the complaint filed against Lee County Sheriff Carmine Marceno by his former close pal Ken Romano.

In a stunning turn, Ken Romano has requested that his ethics complaint against Lee County Sheriff Carmine Marceno alleging undisclosed gifts and unlawful kickbacks be withdrawn, the Florida Trident has learned.

Lee County Sheriff Carmine Marceno is due in Tallahassee on Friday for a hearing regarding a second Florida Commission on Ethics investigation into him and his department, the Florida Trident has learned.

Transportation Day brought out the superintendent, sheriff, a BusPatrol representative and others to talk about safety of schoolchildren with school buses back on the roads.

The federal corruption investigation against him was terminated last November, but Lee County Sheriff Carmine Marceno faces a new inquiry into some of the same allegations — this time by the Florida Ethics Commission. Editor's note: Watch WGCU's Southwest Florida In Focus tonight for a special interview with Florida Trident's Bob Norman on the Carmine Marceno case.

A raft of never-before-seen police reports obtained by the Florida Trident via a public records request portray Carmine Marceno Sr., who was then 67, as a stalker, bully, and thief who routinely roamed a Collier County gated community where he lived in his signature sweat pants terrorizing his neighbors.

When the U.S. Attorney’s Office closed a criminal investigation into Lee County Sheriff Carmine Marceno in November, Marceno issued a statement calling allegations that he engaged in a kickback scheme “completely false.” But in an undercover FBI recording obtained by the Florida Trident, Marceno, while not admitting personal involvement, is heard telling his alleged co-conspirator that he has his “back” regarding payments that may have been made and assuring him they were his “personal business” and the public had no way to discover they were made.

When Lee County Sheriff Carmine Marceno won the Republican primary on Aug. 18, 2020, he celebrated in a Bonita Springs hotel suite, where close colleagues and friends stood in a circle around the room as he addressed each one. Among those in the circle were fellow sheriff’s office employees like Capt. Chris Lalor, whom he called “heaven sent,” and John Holloway, who would later become his undersheriff and whom he dubbed the “brains of the operation.” But saved for the end was someone Marceno said came from “a different place,” his closest friend, 56-year-old Ken Romano, a New Jersey-raised jeweler with both the look and voice of a backroom character on "The Sopranos."

A Tampa political consultant connected to Lee County Sheriff Carmine Marceno said the county's top cop isn't part of a "draft Marceno" for Congress effort.

After a pivotal update in a yearlong investigation, a small but committed group said they gathered on the corner in front of the sheriff’s office to make sure the conversation continues.